Milwaukee Bucks last among playoff teams in bulk point guard scoring
By Ti Windisch
Although Giannis Antetokounmpo will get the most touches on the team, the Milwaukee Bucks could use a point guard who can score.
The Milwaukee Bucks, once again, have a point guard problem. The Bucks have two good point guards in Matthew Dellavedova and Malcolm Brogdon, but both of them lack one crucial ability that most good point guards in the NBA these days have — neither of them can score at will.
At first glance, that might not be a big deal. The Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo — what do they need their point guard to score for? Even in the age of positionless basketball, point guards are very important on both ends of the floor.
Most teams, the Bucks included, start their offense with their point guard most of the time. They bring the ball up the floor and set things in motion. If the player starting the possession with the ball is a scoring threat, defenses cannot relax.
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When the Bucks point guard duo brought the ball up, other teams often could relax. Life was often hard for Giannis because defenses made him beat them — they weren’t overly worried about other players on the Bucks besides Khris Middleton and Jabari Parker scoring on them. Especially not Milwaukee’s point guards.
That’s because neither of them ever really did. Only twice did a Bucks point guard score 20 or more points in a game in the 2016-17 regular season. It was Brogdon both times.
Looking around at other teams to make the NBA Playoffs, it’s exceedingly rare to not have a scoring threat at the point guard position. The best of the best teams typically have a point guard who never allows defenses to relax, whether it be Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Kyle Lowry, Isaiah Thomas, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Russell Westbrook or Damian Lillard.
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Those eight all headed up playoff teams this season, and all of them definitely scored 20 or more points more than twice all season. Let’s look through the other seven playoff teams and see how their point guards did.
Jeff Teague of the Indiana Pacers scored 20 or more points 22 times this season. Dennis Schroder, Atlanta Hawks starting point guard, hit that mark 31 times. Even Chicago Bulls point guard Rajon Rondo, the quintessential pass-first point guard, dropped 20 points three different times in a game this season, once more than the Bucks point guards did combined.
In the other conference, 35-year-old San Antonio Spur Tony Parker had five 20-point games, Utah’s George Hill had 16 such games, Memphis’ Mike Conley dropped 20 or more 36 times and the point god Chris Paul had exactly 20 20-point outings in an injury-shortened season.
It’s official–no playoff team got less bulk scoring from their point guards than the Milwaukee Bucks did. As nicely as Delly and Brogdon filled their roles, the Bucks are clearly lacking in scoring from their floor generals.
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Having more threats to score on the floor needs to be seen as an advantage, not a negative thing. If LeBron James is the perfect model for Giannis’ upside, the Bucks should be working to find a point guard who can carry a significant chunk of the scoring load and let the Greek Freak take a breather now and again.